West Indies captain Brian Lara said his well-rested team were eager to
launch their World Cup campaign in the one-day international against
Pakistan at Faisalabad on Thursday.
"We have been on the road for the last three months and after the first
match was washed out we got the much-needed rest and now we are focused
on the four remaining games," Lara said.
The first game of a five-match series was cancelled due to rain in
Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
The West Indies also meet India in four matches in mid-January before
playing the opening match of the ninth World Cup against Pakistan on
March 13 next year in Jamaica.
Lara said the West Indies, who have in the past three months finished
runners-up to Australia in both a tri-nation series in Malaysia and
then in the Champions Trophy in India, were on track for the mega
event.
"We are well positioned in the one-day game. We have performed really
well, not just in the Champions Trophy but we have been playing good
cricket in 2006, even going back to the ICC Champions Trophy tournament
in 2004 where we were the champions. Our one-day game is not too bad
but our only worry at this present time is that we are pretty close to
the World Cup and the likes of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo are
not here."
West Indies vice captain and key batsman in one-dayers, Sarwan,
fractured his right instep during the recent third Test against
Pakistan and had to return home. Bravo was allowed to return home for
personal reasons.
Lara hoped other players would seize the opportunity.
"We actually depend a lot on Sarwan and Bravo in one-day arena but
their absence will give an opportunity for younger players to stake
their claims and cement their positions," Lara said.
"Conditions in Pakistan aren't too different from ours. Pitches are
normally good batting tracks so we see it as a benefit to be playing
against a team ranked higher than us and if we win it will give us
psychological advantage."
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq also felt that the first match washout
had given players a chance to rest.
"We got a good rest. It was disappointing to lose the first match but
you can't do anything about rain," said Inzamam, who returned to the
team after completing a four-match ban for bringing the game into
disrepute in the Oval Test in August.
Inzamam said his team needed a good effort to beat the West Indies.
"West Indies is a very good one-day side so we need to play at our best
to beat them," said Inzamam.
Squads (from): Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Imran Farhat, Mohammad
Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul
Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Sami,
Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul and Abdul Rehman
West Indies: Brian Lara (capt), Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Daren
Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne
Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor,
Daren Powell and Dave Mohammed